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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
With Mali Music it's possible at last to see how Damon Albarn's foray into Africa has worked out: most members of what Albarn's friend Michael Nyman has dubbed the "world-music police" would probably be happy to give it a qualified thumbs-up. If some of the "Western" tracks are little more than an undifferentiated blur (no pun intended), the echt-Malian ones are a delight.
But it's what lies between that's interesting: what Albarn and his colleagues Afel Bocoum, Toumani Diabate and Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia have achieved is best described as "the music of place". In "Kela Village" you can almost see the celebrations going on amid the chirruping of birds and the croaking of frogs; "Bamako City" comes with bags of local atmosphere.
This CD was constructed in layers--after Albarn had edited down his 40 hours of raw material, he created collages with new melodies and beats and then sent his tapes back to Mali, where extra vocals and instrumental work were added. We thus get music that actually feels layered: a typical track will start with a simple groove on kora or ngoni, then it will acquire a voice, then some electronic effects, and it will finally be enveloped in a seductive miasma of local atmosphere.
Apart from some nifty Malian balafon and string work, there's nothing here of instrumental note--Albarn's instrument is a battered melodica--but that doesn't matter, because in this game the final effect is the thing. Disregard Albarn's pretentious guff about this representing the "Africanisation of Western music"--where does the boy imagine jazz came from?--but do regard this CD as a healthy omen. --Michael Church
Review
Mali Music is based on the recordings made by Damon Albarn on an Oxfam-organised trip to Mali a couple of years ago. Rather than take the usual rushed celebrity approach, the Blur and Gorillaz man stayed for a few weeks and with his melodica in hand, played wherever he could (clubs gigs, village jams, on riverboats and in musicians' compounds) with anyone who would let him join in: Toumani Diabate, Lobi Traore and Kasse Mady to name but a few. The tapes were taken back to his West London studio, things were mixed and added and then it was back to Mali for further additions from the excellent Afel Bocoum. Perhaps surprisingly, this doesn't result in a self-indulgent mess. Albarn is clearly motivated by a love of Malian music but he's not afraid to mess with it when he feels the need. So that while some tracks (the self explanatory 4am At Toumani's for example) are pretty much unmucked around with, others feature twangy guitars, muted synth lines or the deep dubby bass of Junior Dan. Apparently the aim was to create a musical travelogue of Mali, but it's one filtered through a particular laid-back West London sensibility. Albarn mainly contents himself with orchestrating the whole thing and playing simple melodica melodies, with just the occasional understated vocal thrown in. The decision to involve Bocoum is a definite plus and all in all, Mali Music is pulled off with just the right mix of respect and inventiveness. --Jamie Renton
© fRoots Magazine all rights reserved -- fRoots, May 2002
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Thoes of you who like the way the first Manu Chao record makes you feel will like this. It mixes and matches new and old with great delight and at the same time effortlessly blends different worlds. They obviously had so much FUN making this record and you can hear it in every note. Damon's melodica may not be perfect, but would sound wrong somehow if it was. (Great to hear melodica being used in a starring role again too - Augustus Pablo, you are much missed...) This is a record to chill out to whilst wearing a big smile on your face. Life affirming!
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Tk Childs
Format:Audio CD
There's something for everyone here. You don't have to love world music to appreciate such songs as Sunset Coming On, whilst tracks like The Diembe and Niger, which mix dub reggae with laid back Malian vibes, prove irresistable. On top of these are a wealth of African sounds that will convert those unsure about what such music sounds like. Damon and friends are to be congratulated. They've managed to produce what will be an essential soundtrack of the summer for all those who buy this CD.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Laloux
Format:Audio CD
Do you need a change? Are you in the mood for something new and exotic? Well then, how does a trip to Mali sound? Good? Then let yourself be carried away by Mali Music, an album conceived and produced by Damon Albarn (leader of Blur and Gorillaz) and the musicians he befriended during his stay in Mali in July 2000. Let them take you along on their adventures, to the very places where Damon recorded over 80 hours of traditional music, accompanied at times by Damon's melodica and humming. This musical project (initiated by the Oxfam charity organization) represents the merging of two different musical landscapes. Damon edited and worked on the recordings in his London studio, enriching them with dubbing and electronic effects. The result is an eclectic album, a total of sixteen pieces marrying Malian and Western music, which takes the listener on a musical journey. A ride on the Niger River, a visit of Bamako's Institut National des Arts, and stops at the Kela and Griot Villages are all on the itinerary. You will be surprised and happy to discover how delightfully Toumani Diabaté's kora (a 21-cord harp), the njurka (a traditional violin), the balafon, the ngoni and the Griots' singing mesh with the piano, keyboards, guitars and electronic music. The 40-page booklet accompanying the CD is equally superb.
Do you wish to become acquainted to Malian music without getting bogged down by it? Opt for Mali Music then, the first release of Honest Jon's Records, a label founded by Damon Albarn and his friends from the Portobello Road record shop. Have a good trip!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By ragnumpiza
Format:Audio CD
There are many attempts at world crossover music that fail but luckily this is one of those rare records that works on all counts. The mix is perfect & complements each with respect & real love of what good music is all about. It is the soul of africa presented in a beautiful way. Tracks like "spoons" and "the Djembe" are just songs that move you deep in your heart. Whilst "les escrocs" will just transport you to all that is missing in your life. World music at it's very very best. If you like "world" music this should be in your top 10, though I find it hard to fit it into the catagory of "world music"...what is that?
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
"Now for my next trick" Damon Albarn turns an Oxfam-sponsored visit to Mali into an electronic, bongo, steel drum and singing festival, unhampered and honest from the helping hands of Toumani Diabate and Afel Bocum. It could so easily have been turned into an anthemicly patronising piece of cultural tourism but instead remains just as much made by Mali musicians as it does Damon Alburn. With only a melodica Albarn proves he is one of the greatest working artists in Britain. The album has been in the works for over 2 years and speaks for itself, largely defecating over the sludgy and superficially dull moments from his Gorillaz album. Whilst certain press blindly continue to fill pages with self-advertisements, aimless lists and promotional give-aways, albums like these slip past relatively unnoticed leaving tender songs such as 'Sunset coming on' and 'Les escrocs' to graciously leave us feeling warm, kind and ready to use certain press for toilet paper.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Demob Happy
Format:Audio CD
Albarn's Mali Music project is an overlooked album of beautiful mood and texture that barely belongs to the hideous 'category' of world music. This is very much a subjectivised, western account of African moods and musicianship, taken largely from muddled field recordings and mixed down in London. Mostly the range of instrumentation drifts in and out of the mix unhurried in a manner that has more in common with sample-based music and electronica than world music. Indeed it starts disappointingly with the track Spoons that seems to bare no superficial resemblance to African music at all, more like the slick trip hop of Faithless's quieter moments. But listen carefully and you will hear all manner of found sound bubbling under the surface; the nocturnal vibes pervade, evidently recorded over night-long Mali jam sessions and banter. Track titles like '4AM At Toumani's', 'Kela Village' and 'Bamako City' give testament to the approach, which seems aimed at capturing the mood of a place rather than provide a platform for specific artists. Perhaps this is not for the purists of whom Michael Nyman referred to as the 'World Music Police'.
There are moments of unbearable lovliness throughout, that evoke a sense of Albarn's heartbreaking nostalgia for his experience, especially on songs fronted by him (Sunset Coming On). Absolutely a subjectivised and romanticised account, it drifts and swells in a heady brew that uses African music and atmosphere as texture. 'Makelekele' splices together its range of instrumentation into a kind of demented African techno, while 'Le Relax' and 'The Djembe' are spectral, humid dub. Most tracks have irresistable hooks and grooves given added insistence by a variety of singers, as well as Albarn's melodica, which underpins some of the, er, melodies.... Read more ›
There are moments of unbearable lovliness throughout, that evoke a sense of Albarn's heartbreaking nostalgia for his experience, especially on songs fronted by him (Sunset Coming On). Absolutely a subjectivised and romanticised account, it drifts and swells in a heady brew that uses African music and atmosphere as texture. 'Makelekele' splices together its range of instrumentation into a kind of demented African techno, while 'Le Relax' and 'The Djembe' are spectral, humid dub. Most tracks have irresistable hooks and grooves given added insistence by a variety of singers, as well as Albarn's melodica, which underpins some of the, er, melodies.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
a rare crossover album
most African musicians lose something when they try to be too Western, as with the latest Amadou and Mariam, although obviously they have the right to try: they often come across... Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Harlow
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best.
I got this aas a present and kept forgetting to order, then two days before I was ment to give it, I ordered. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Corneil
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creative
Being a post punk indie kid this album is very different to anything else I own.
However if you like laid back Damon Albarn & proper tunes this album is very good. Read more
However if you like laid back Damon Albarn & proper tunes this album is very good. Read more
Published on 24 May 2008 by Mr. D-G
5.0 out of 5 stars
a real good treat
amongst the rubbish tweenie pop music of 2002 this little gem sticks out, the hypnotic tunes are really refreshing, if only all modern music was as good as this, it's how music... Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2003 by Joe
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